Last Chance for a New Beginning
by WhiteBuffalo
Summary: Chipp Zanuff lives a dangerous life under the influence of drugs and the mafia. But soon that could all change... except the danger. Rated R for heavy violence, drug references, and language
1. One Bad Day After Another

The man with the silver hair ran as fast as he could down the street, holding a small bag in his arm. Pursuing him was a larger man with tattoos covering his arms, a shaved head, and a very bad temper.  
  
"You get back here!" He shouted at the runaway, as he continued to follow him.  
  
The man holding the bag ran into a nearby alley, and was shocked when he saw the big slab of concrete at the end of it, dividing the alley in two. There was no way out now; he had chosen a dead end. He backed into the corner, the larger man approaching him slowly but dauntingly. The escapee looked left and right in a panic to try to find an exit.  
  
"I've got you cornered. Now give me back my stuff!" The man shouted.  
  
"No way in hell!" The nimble man responded. "You have no idea who you're messin with, do ya?" (Maybe letting off an intimidating attitude would give him more time), he thought. (A ladder... no doors... this concrete is 15 feet tall...)  
  
"Nah, so why don't you tell me?" The tattooed man said, coming closer. It was only a moment before he would be captured, he had to think fast.  
  
"My name?" He said, chuckling. And as soon as he finished his two words, he leaped up with all his might to the ladder of the fire escape of the building to his left. He climbed up and jumped off towards the concrete slab. While soaring through the air, the tattooed man looked up, amazed at him. The acrobat managed to get a grip on the top of the slab where cracks had formed. He pulled himself up, stood on top of the slab, and looked down at the stunned man below. "My name is Chipp Zanuff! And don't you forget it!"  
  
And with his final words, Chipp jumped off the slab in the other direction and ran off into the night.  
  
-----  
  
Chipp woke up slowly from his stupor the next morning to several loud knocks on the door. The bag he stole the night before was completely empty now. Chipp rolled over on his dirty mattress. The dank apartment smelled of alcohol and marijuana, a drug very popular in the 20th century. Light fixtures were loose, swinging and making the lights flicker on and off. Water leaks, broken walls, cobwebs, the entire set. And here Chipp was laying on his filthy mattress that rested on the floor, partly covered by a ragged blanket.  
  
More knocks on the door.  
  
"What do you want?!" Chipp yelled, sounding still half-asleep.  
  
"Your damn rent," The voice behind the door shouted. "You haven't paid me in over 2 months, Z."  
  
Chipp got up, and put on his jeans and tight black muscle shirt. He approached the door and looked through the rusted eyehole. Indeed it was his landlord. The landlord was a man not much older than Chipp, who dressed very shabbily and always had a pencil behind his ear. Yuri, the landlord, had become a friend of Chipp's over their common interest of reviving past culture. The one thing Yuri didn't know about this resident is that he had been working for the mafia from a young age, dealing drugs. Chipp opened the door slowly.  
  
"Jesus," Yuri said in a surprised voice. "You look like you were just hit by a truck."  
  
"Screw you, man." Chipp said, rubbing his eyes.  
  
"Look, Z. Your rent has been late for a long time. And I know we're buds, but this can't keep happening."  
  
"Yeah... I know." Chipp invited Yuri in for a moment, while he went to the drawer that sat beside his bed. He pulled out a very large sum of money and gave it to his intendent. "Take it and leave me alone."  
  
Yuri looked down, shocked at the money in his hand. "I'm not even going to ask where you got this," He said quietly. "But Z... do me a favor and clean yourself up. These drugs are doing nothing but bad for you, man."  
  
"Get out of my room." Chipp said.  
  
Yuri just stood still. "Please, man. It's gonna end up ruining you."  
  
Chipp pulled out his knife and threw it at the wall directly behind Yuri. "That's a warning!" Chipp shouted. "I said, get out!" And with that, Yuri immediately turned and ran.  
  
Chipp went back to his mattress and laid back on it. He had no family except the mafia themselves now. But Chipp was not one to get paranoid, which is why his recent feelings frightened him. It was always survival of the fittest for Chipp, but he knew somewhere inside that if he kept doing this to himself with his drugs, that he wouldn't be fit to live anymore. There was no easy way out of this. There used to be an easy way out of everything, but this time Chipp was trapped in on his own. And if the mafia found out his drug trafficking was becoming less successful because of his addictions, he could even be killed.  
  
"But who would ever come to rescue a man like me?" Chipp said, throwing a bottle across the room, where it shattered, and several drops of whatever was left spilled onto the floor. 


	2. Chipp's Choice

Later that night, Chipp woke up again to several knocks. These seemed to be louder. Either this was a very angry landlord or something a lot worse...  
  
Chipp immediately got up, and readjusted the clothing he was still wearing. As he did this, he noted the smell of it. He hadn't washed it for a while. In fact, he couldn't remember the past few days too well. It had begun that the drugs nearly took him over. But there was no time, destiny awaited.  
  
He went to look through the eyehole. He could tell already that he was in trouble - four men in suits were outside his door. Chipp felt a chill run down his spine. These were only a few of the mafia members he worked for. And sending four after one man meant only one thing...  
  
The silver-haired man slowly took a couple steps back and opened the door. The four men filed in and formed a curve around the man.  
  
"So I see you all came for my cheap ass, eh?" Chipp said, cracking a grin. This was his last chance to fight back and break free.  
  
"You've been stealing from us," One of the men said. "So now we're going to take it back. Don't hesitate, it will make everything easier."  
  
Chipp winked at the four of them and as one pulled their gun out, he jumped up to the broken ceiling and grabbed onto a loose pipe. He took the pipe in both his hands and ran at the man with the gun. Before any shots could be fired, Chipp ducked low and ran past him, shoving the blunt end of the pipe through the man's stomach. Without any hesitation, the other men in the room drew their knives while the gun holder fell face-first to the ground bleeding to death, the pipe sticking out of his back. Chipp stood right next to the door, with three men still staring at him.  
  
One man lunged at Chipp and took a large swing, but Chipp evaded and the man's fist ran straight through the plywood wall. Chipp swung around the back of the man and with his entire body, shoved the man straight into the wall. His head slammed into the brick part of the wall, and with the concussion fell down to his knee, bleeding and unconscious.  
  
"You want more? Come on and get it, suckers." Chipp said, still grinning in his confidence. Only two men remained, and the first two seemed so easy to him.  
  
This time both men ran at him with their knives. Chipp grabbed one man's arm and held it in the air while the other swiped at Chipp's abdomen. He managed to get one cut out but immediately Chipp swung backhanded straight into the man's face, sending him spinning onto the floor. Chipp then glanced at the man whose arm he held, spun him around and head butted him in the forehead, sending him stumbling backwards.   
  
Chipp examined his cut quickly, seeing it wasn't too bad, but when he looked up, the two men had gotten up and were charging at him. He immediately ducked down, kicked out their legs, sending them straight into the wood floor. Without thinking, Chipp took the two long daggers that were in their hands and pierced them into the hearts of his two fallen enemies. As he removed the two knives, blood began to spurt out of the men's chests.  
  
Chipp looked down to see his shirt was covered in blood. Killing seemed almost natural to him, and it didn't even occur to him that he had actually just killed other humans.  
  
"Survival of the fittest, ya dickheads." He said, wiping the sweat off of his forehead.  
  
Chipp then headed for the door, but saw more men with suits coming down the hall. This time, all equipped with guns. Chipp's jaw dropped.  
  
"Holy sh--" a gunshot flew by his head. "Time to go! Sorry fellas!" He said as he ran back in his room and tried to open the window. But just as Chipp suspected it would be, the window was jammed. He had never fixed it because he never needed to, but now he needed an exit. The men were already at the door.  
  
"Come with us, Zanuff."  
  
"Christ, guys. Enough's enough." Chipp said with a big smile. He ran at the window on the opposite side of the room that was now filled with the sound and smoke of gunshots and jumped shoulder first into the glass, shattering it as he fell into the alley behind the building. He started running out of the alley, but a figure came around the corner just as he was about to leave. The narrow alleyway would not allow him to get past this person. Chipp looked up at him in the moonlight. The figure stood taller than Chipp who was already rather tall himself, with short black hair and an evil look on his face.  
  
"B-b-boss... how great to see you!" Chipp said slyly.  
  
"There's no way you're getting out of this one, you little bastard. You're mine!" Boss Jiro said.  
  
He reached out for Chipp, but he only jumped backwards. The Boss continued to walk towards him slowly, as Chipp backed up. Soon Chipp's back was to a large wall, completely impassable. He at this point would not have given up hope, but now he prayed on the inside for some salvation. For one moment, he left his body for what seemed an eternity.  
  
In his surreal dream, Chipp confronted a heavenly figure.  
  
"Where am I?" Chipp said, bewildered.  
  
It spoke in a very soft but authoritative voice, "Chipp Zanuff. You are here because you have your one last chance. Change your ways and become enlightened, or remain stubborn and face your consequences."  
  
Chipp looked around and saw nothing. "I don't want to die. Not now."  
  
"Then you will change your ways."  
  
"To the best of my ability, just don't let me die..." He pleaded.  
  
The figure slowly dissipated, and he returned to the scene where he opened his eyes to see his boss looming over him. His intimidating look never truly made Chipp afraid, but Chipp stood in his place awaiting his punishment.  
  
"You're going to pay for what you've done, Chipp," Boss Jiro said, holding Chipp by his collar and raising his fist.  
  
Chipp looked over the boss's shoulder and saw a man standing there in black. He had thin white hair and wrinkled skin, noting to Chipp that he was an old man who happened to be in the right place at the right time. Chipp looked up to see his boss again, hoping the old man could do something.  
  
"Let him go." He heard the old man say. The boss turned around and stared at him.  
  
"Oh, and what will you do, old man?" The boss said, holding his stance.  
  
Before Chipp could dust himself off, the old man threw his fist into the boss's stomach, and with both hands, brought the boss's head to meet his knee with incredible force. Jiro merely toppled over, suffering from the major concussion and bleeding profusely out of his nose. Chipp jumped up in the air.  
  
"Damn! That was amazing!" Chipp said. The old man turned and began to walk the other way. "Old man! Please, come back! You have to teach me your defense and attack! I'll be your student!"  
  
The old man looked back over his shoulder. "Chipp... the art of Ninjitsu is a very strictly disciplined form of fighting. You would be wise to learn it, but a fool to learn it in your condition."  
  
"How did you--- never mind..." Chipp looked flabbergasted. Was this his salvation? Was this his chance to change? Did he really want it? "Then I will choose to be wise." Chipp finally said, and ran to the old man. "Chipp Zanuff, your disciple." He said, and bowed.  
  
"You will call me Tsuyoshi. Let us go, this place is dangerous."  
  
As the walk off under the moonlight, a dark figure passes in the shadows, laughing... 


End file.
